Burn your bridges

Hi, just a quick update to show you one of my latest cards

The stamped image is coloured with promarkers and cut out and the saying is printed out using the typewriter font (free).

I have layered it onto some paper from my offcut stash box (which is not looking too bad at the moment).

A quick card that sums up how I think a lot of us feel at some time or another!!

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

WOYWW

 Hello, it is Wednesday again so that can only mean it is time to bare all and show our Workdesks.

 On my desk is the next tunnel book swap that I am working one.  This one is a Discworld one and belongs to Jas.  My own books doing the rounds is also a Discworld but different to this one-I was blown away when I saw it!  No detailed photos as I it will wait for the owner to do the big reveal-but my oh my is all I can say.

I have sort of decided on the subject of my double page spread-I just need to execute it!

On the right hand side of my desk are a couple of sheets of alcohol ink dyed A4 sheets. I find the 'proper' glossy cardstock is expensive so rarely use my alcohol inks, but at the scrapstore they had some A4 sheets of glossy card so I bought about 30 sheets, a large blue industrial roll of kitchen paper (perfect for clean up) and a handful of nice smooth thin card for stamping-£1 for all of it!  I know, ridiculously good value and its helping a charity and stopping waste going to landfill so it would be rude not to support them!

 

I thought I would also share with you my latest purchase.  I love inktense pencils and have about 10 different colours.  But when Cass Art emailed their latest newsletter and I saw that they had a set of 36 for £19.99 I could not resist!  Brilliant value (in fact, I bought 2-one for my mum!).

We are lucky that last year Cass Art opened a branch in Bristol.  I love visiting that there London and going to their flagship store in Islington (near the Screen on the Green) so was pleased to find a store in the West open. The pencils have been decanted and are in my pencil case-but the tin is too nice to put in recycling, so for the time being until I can think of another use for it it is sitting next to my desk.  If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week...'Lady Dumps Crooked Psychic'!  I could go on about them all being crooks...but that is not for here :-)

Happy crafting

Kyla

Gardeners learn by trowel and error

I have 3 loves apart from family and friends.  That is art/craft, music and plants.

Over the years I have had allotments, window boxes and front and back gardens. I was lucky enough to grow up in a house that had a massive back garden and parents that liked to grow their own fruit and veg.  

So, this weekend my Mum and I went on a coach trip (haven't been on one of those for many years-but handing the driving and organising over to someone else was a delight!) to Blenheim Palace, Gardens and Flower show.

I warn you that this is a photo heavy post and nothing to do with craft, but if you fancy a nose around then pull up a chair and grab a pimms (well, it is summer!).

 The show was not too big which meant we had plenty of time to wander round and take lots of photos.  The flowers were stunning.  This one is a fuchsia called Eternity. 

 This little maroon firework is Centaurea Sordy, I think it looks like a little catherine wheel whirling round.

 Persicaria Purple Fantasy reminds me of a snakehead.  A real vipers nest of a plant

 The lillies on this stall were HUGH (hence my hand for scale)

 This one was called "African Lady".  I did wonder if they were made of wax they were so big!

 No idea what these were.....I was in need of a coffee by now!

Coffee and maybe a shared cake (well, it was a day out!) later we continued round the show.

 I love these dew plants.  Hubby loves carnivorous plants so I took quite a few photos of these weird specimens

 

 This display won a gold, I could see why-stunning

 There were quite a lot of cacti stalls and I even bought myself a small trio in a china pot for the craft room window sill.

 This Hydrangea was called Kardinal Violet and was a beauty.

When my Dad was alive he was a keen Bonsai cultivator and spent several years growing and pruning several beautiful trees. So whenever I see some I always think of my Dad (particularly pertinent as in the UK this week end is Fathers Day).

 There were some fabulous alium displays

 The miniature flower arrangements were made with such precision.  This one in a broken egg shell!

 

 We were lucky enough to catch garden designer and TV gardener Joe Swift on his free talk about designing your back garden.  He was SO funny, a natural performer.

 There were several different poppies that I have never seen before, this deep wax like purple one particularly caught my eye.

 This tickled me!

 Once we looked round the show we had a look around the house and some of the garden (they are SO large there is easily enough to fill another visit).

 The ceilings are stunning

 Whilst everyone was looking up I spotted this dragon

 and the library was stunning, floor to ceiling shelves of old books in leather bound covers.

 The formal knot garden

 and finally there was a garden depicting the war, complete with some of the ceramic poppies from the Tower of London (I was lucky enough that last year my mum bought me one).

 

A great day out, now I just need to get out into my own small patch and weed!!

Happy horticulture!

Kyla

 

Crash, bang, whallop and a fairy appeared

The other day a box fell off a shelf in my craft room (I say fell, to be honest it was more of a case of me being impatient and trying to reach for something underneath the box rather than lifting it up and safely retrieving I just pulled it out and hoped the box would stay put!  It didn't!).

The box revealed some old papers and embellishments that I forgot I had!  Now, surely I cannot be the only one who has forgotten more craft stash than I can remember?

I think these Flower Fairy tags came free with a magazine many years ago (more years than I would like to remember or own up to!) and every now and again I chance upon them and use a few before putting them away for  another year or so!

As the gardens are bursting with Spring colour at the moment I felt it was time to use the lilac flower fairy.

I added some green stickles to the backing paper to just add a small amount of bling.  I like stickles as they are not TOO glittery and tend to be self levelling so I don't need to be too neat.

I put the rest of the stash away, safe in the knowledge that although I have used a very small amount up, I have used up some old stash so that can only be a good thing.

 Happy crafting

Kyla

 

WOYWW

 Sorry for missing last weeks post and return visits but the pay the bills job has stepped up a gear and meant precious little time for crafting let alone blogging.

This week saw my ATC's from the 6th Anniversary swap arrive.

The top two are from Bev in Canada (www.bunnysgirls.blogspot.ca) she said she couldn't decided which to send so sent both!  Thanks Bev, I particularly like the saying on the butterfly one "We delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty"

The bottom one is from Jill and though it doesn't show it in the photo it has an amazing background glitter to the card, thanks ladies.

 So, my desk is a cheat as it is empty (apart from actual work) but the kitchen is filled with the heady scent of Elderflower Cordial making.

I make several batches each late spring and it signifies to us that summer is almost upon us.  It is great just with water, hot or cold, nice in a G&T, cider or even added to stewed fruit.  I also give bottles as gifts (I took one to the WOYWW crop for LLJ and Julia) and it keeps remarkably well.  It takes 5 days to steep, but it is worth it.

 My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week (if you remove the final S off the word Stuns) reads like a headline from one of the red top newspapers!!!

I hope you all have a fabulous, crafty week.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

Stamped images ready for colouring

Every now and again The Coven have a stamping evening and we stamp up lots of each others images.  It is cheaper than buying stamps and means that if I have a few minutes to spare I have a stash of images I can colour. Also, sometimes it is nice to just sit and colour.  I find it meditative and great if my mojo is taking a break.

This Greenhouse was coloured with Inktense pencils, matted and layered on some scrap green card, the edge of the card stamped with a swirl stamp and a flower added for texture.

A nice and simple card.

 Happy crafting

Kyla

 

New stash with a local vibe

 Hi, just a quick update of 3 lovely craft items I picked up locally.

The fancy fibres was from http://www.thread58.com/ and I thought the green and heather colours would be perfect for a moorland scene. They are currently based in Old Market but is due to move to Fishponds where she will be able to hold courses too. They have lovely fabric and some amazing African fabric and vintage lace.

The stencil (A4 size) has a lovely typeface and at £2.99 I really could not resist! This is from http://craftandmore.flavors.me/#facebook which is a 3 storey (yep, you read that right) craft shop in the centre of Bristol!  Not much in the way of stamping but some great paints for street art, mixed media, jewellery, general art stash, floristry and wedding favours.

 Finally in the middle is a roll of washi tape. Which I bought in a pop up shop in the Harbour that was advertising our European Green City 2015 status.

This one is Bristol based and features the clifton suspension bridge and of course hot air balloons, two items synonymous with Bristol.

I wasn't expecting to buy anything as I have my eye on some paints but these 3 things were screaming my name so loudly people were starting to stare (and they were all from local shops so it would be rude not to).

Happy crafting

Kyla

WOYWW ATC swap

 Happy WOYWW.  Something a bit different today as not able to post a picture of my desk as its covered in my latest project which I don't want to show until the recipient sees it (and it's wet paint, so not easy to move).

So I thought I would share the lovely ATC's I have received so far:

 Top (L-R) Bluebeard & Elizabeth, Fiona Richardson, Delores, Silver Crafter

Bottom (L-R) Pearshaped Crafting, Cindy Cashplant, Morti and Elizabeth Anne

 Top (L-R) Tag by Debbie Tattered Rocks, Hettiecraft, Julia, LLJ

Bottom (L-R) Stamping by H, Zoe and Twiglet (gorgeous stitching)

 Wispo again did a fabulous poem to accompany hers

 and Mary Anne outdid herself with an ATC holder and pop-up box!

Over the years my ATC's (not something I particularly collect) have grown and my holder is now nearly full!!!

Happy WOYWW

Kyla

 

Postive affirmations and pebbles

 On a recent trip to Exeter I came across post-it notes that had been stuck to various billboards.

 "You are ALWAYS good enough"

 and "Be your own hero".  Little positive affirmations randomly across the city.

The weather was nice to we decided to pop on down to Sidmouth for a couple of hours.  I love it down here, the Jurassic coast has the most amazing red stone.

I couldn't resist adding some googly eyes to this rusted little fella

We also popped to Budleigh Salterton.  Some amazing scenery around here and the estuary has a great walk to Otterton watermill, with bird hides and plenty of seats on route!

Whilst we sat on the sea front (with maybe an ice cream!) I couldn't resist painting this little fellow on a pebble and left my blog details on the back.

I wonder if anyone will find him?  I know someone contacted me last year about the ones I left in Sidmouth.

Happy crafting

Kyla